Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats Party published a draft plan on its vision for Germany's future following a meeting in Mainz on Saturday. +

Included in the 10 point plan are proposals to to make it easier to deport people who have been granted asylum, asylum seekers and refugees if they have been convicted of committing a crime - the measures would require parliamentary approval.

The so-called Mainz Declaration follows dozens of sexual assaults and robberies that occurred in the city of Cologne on New Year's Eve.

The EU's Human Rights Commissioner, Nils Muiznieks, has welcomed Germany's decision to suspend the rules that call for member states to return asylum seekers to the member state through which they entered the EU in the case of Syrian refugees.

This is the right thing to do. I hope more Governments follow suit. 